Auto Ordnance 1911 revisit and updated range report.

[Vernal45]

Well, this AO 1911, the milspec, is a pleasant surprise. I purchased it a month ago. Right after purchase, I put about 300 rounds, no failures of any kind, down range. Today, Had some time off, so I bought 400 rounds of reloads from a friend of mine, pick up some of the loose 45 rounds in my range bag and put them in a coffee can (hope I dont get stopped), and off to the range. This gun is stock, no mods, no changes. I did not even clean it from the last range trip. It ate all 400 rounds and spit them out. NO problem at all. So thats 700 rounds of ball and HP without a problem. It is combat accurate, just goofing around I was able to keep the shots within a 3 inch circle.

I am impressed with this gun. It is a Kahr AO, and for South of $400, a good buy in my opinion, worth looking at. YMMV.

 

[CougarRed]

I have owned 2 Kahr pistols, and I am sure they are doing a fine job with AO 1911s.

Problem is, SA came out with the their $390 GI model. SA has a much better reputation than AO for 1911s, so Kahr has an uphill battle.

I bought the SA GI as a base gun to upgrade/customize. Haven't started to work on it yet, but taken the stock gun to the range and it is perfect so far.

 

[Vernal45]

I have an SA GI as well, had extraction problems at the first, fixed that, no more problems.

Yes, AO has an uphill battle, but I think they will get there. The AO 1911 GI is a gun worth taking a chance on.

 

[shep854]

When the itch for a "real GI" 1911 got too bad, the only one I could find was the Kahr/AO example. I really wanted a Springer, but there were none. I have been very pleased with my AO. It's run nearly 2000 rounds of Wolf, the only problem being a cracked barrel bushing.

 

[Vernal45]

It's run nearly 2000 rounds of Wolf, the only problem being a cracked barrel bushing.

I read about that somewhere, did you ever figure out how it happened. BAd part???? I have kept an eye on mine, and also have a spare bushing at the ready just in case.

 

[shep854]

Vernal45, I mentioned it on "Forum.m1911.org". The consensus there was that it was a bad part. The 'smith who looked at it felt it was due to some hot handloads I ran through it (in addition to the Wolf). New part, runs great. BTW, I also replaced the recoil spring; by this time the original was about two coils shorter than new.

 

[1911Ron]

I have the SA GI also, if it goes bang when you want it to and not go bang when you don't it's all good How is the fit and finish on it?

 

[Vernal45]

How is the fit and finish on it?

I think the park job is great, barrel lock up is tight, very, very little slide/frame play.

 

[shep854]

The AO rattles though the barrel/slide lockup is tight; that's one other thing I like about it.